The Best Piece of Advice I've Ever Been Given
by HPGW23
Summary: Ginny Potter gives her daughter Lily some advice that she herself was given more than twenty years previously.


"Mum, can I talk to you for a minute please?"

Ginny looked up, her twelve year-old daughter Lily was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. It was the summer holidays, Lily, Albus and James had just finished their first, third, and fourth years of Hogwarts respectively.

"Of course, Lily. Sit down."

Lily looked uncomfortable, "Um, can we talk in my room, Mum? I don't want James or Al to hear."

Ginny blinked curiously, "Sure, Lily. Just give me a minute, and I'll be up there. You go up and wait."

"Thanks, Mum." Lily turned and ran up the stairs.

Ginny arrived outside Lily's room, and knocked.

"Come in," came Lily's voice.

Ginny entered the room. It was quite bare: although Lily greatly resembled Ginny in terms of physical appearance, and had the same strong, witty personality, she didn't have the same interest in Quidditch as Ginny had when she was a child, or any of the same interests for that matter.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" asked Ginny.

Lily was looking at her swinging feet, blushing. She looked up at her mother and took a deep breath.

"Boys."

"Ah," said Ginny, suddenly understanding her daughter's curious actions. "What about boys, Lily?"

Lily swallowed, "Well there's this boy in the year above me, one of Albus' friends' brother. He's really... nice, and... sweet, and good looking, but, the thing is... the thing is, I... I can't talk to him. I feel so shy around him, and I don't know how to get him to notice me."

Ginny just barely managed to supress a grin; maybe she and her daughter were more a like than she thought, "Who is it, darling?"

"Joel Wood."

"Oliver Wood's son?"

"Yeah, and Norman's brother."

"He hangs around with Albus and Norman, right?"

"Yeah."

Ginny smiled, "You know Lily, there was once someone at Hogwarts who had a problem just like yours."

Lily looked up. "Who was that, Mum?"

"It was me," said Ginny simply.

Lily blinked in surprise.

"Who was it over, Mum?"

"Your father."

Lily was speechless for a long moment. "How did you get him?"

Ginny thought for a moment, "It was the summer holidays just after my second year. It was the Quidditch World Cup, and your Uncle Ron had invited your dad, and your Aunt Hermione to come and join me, your granddad and your uncles to see it."

Lily looked confused, "But what's that got to do with anything?"

Ginny grinned, "When your Aunt Hermione arrived, she stayed with me in my room, and while she was there, we talked about your dad and I. I told her that I was in love with him, but didn't know how to make him notice me, and then your Aunt Hermione gave me the best piece of advice I've ever been given."

"And what was that?" asked Lily.

"Be yourself. Don't try and hide who you really are," Ginny paused, "So I started talking in front of him, and after a few months I started going out with another boy called Michael Corner. Then by my fourth year, your dad and I were good friends, and I broke up with Michael Corner, because he was a sore loser, and then I started going out with a boy named Dean Thomas."

Lily gasped, "So you weren't in love with dad anymore?"

Ginny shook her head, "No. I was always in love with your dad, and I knew it, even when I was going out with the other two." Ginny sniggered, "Sometimes I would imagine that it was your dad who I was kissing."

Lily giggled, "Really?"

"Yeah," replied Ginny, "But they were never as good as dad's real kisses." Ginny and Lily laughed together for a moment, before Ginny continued. "Anyway, even though I was going out with Dean, I was falling even more in love with your dad, but something was different this time: your dad was starting to fall in love with me. By this point, it was late in my fifth year, and Dean and weren't doing too well. Eventually we broke up, and a while after that I had to play seeker for a Quidditch match, because your dad had a detention. I got the Snitch, and won the year's cup. After that I decided that I was going to kiss your dad for the first time."

"And did you?"

"Yes, I did, kind of?"

"What do you mean, "kind of"?"

"I intended to start the kiss, but before I could your dad kissed me. Right in front of the whole common room."

"Even in front of Uncle Ron?"

"Even in front of Uncle Ron."

Lily stared for a moment, "And then you and Dad started going out?"

"For a while, yes."

"For a while?"

"He broke up with me when Professor Dumbledore died, because he wanted to protect me from Voldemort."

Lily pouted slightly, "When will you tell me the whole story about Dad and Voldemort? The boys know!"

Ginny considered, "Well, I suppose you are old enough now. I'll tell you soon," she promised.

Lily grinned, "Good. Now tell me more about you and Dad."

"Well, after he defeated Voldemort, he slept for about a day, and then I went to see him, and we got back together, and we've been together ever since."

Lily sat back and smiled, "That was lovely, Mum."

Ginny smiled back at her daughter. "Yes, it was. And do you know who it is who I have to thank for that?"

Lily cocked her head slightly, "Who?"

"Your Aunt Hermione."

Lily seemed a little confused, so Ginny explained, "Do you know why that advice she gave me was the best I've ever been given?"

"No, why?"

"Because if I hadn't been given it, I might have been shy around your father for longer, and he might have never fallen in love with me, and we may have never gotten together, and we may never have married."

Lily gasped, "Then I wouldn't have been born!"

Ginny nodded.

Lily gazed at her mother, "I need to remember to thank Aunt Hermione when I next see her."

Ginny smiled, "So do I."

"What?" asked Lily, "You mean after all these years, you haven't thanked her yet?"

"Of course I have," replied Ginny, with a soft laugh, "I thank her every time I see her. But that's just it, I've got to remember not to break tradition."

Lily giggled and went to hug her mother, "So, when I go back to school and see Joel, I've got to be myself, and not try and hide who I really am."

"That's right," said Ginny.

Lily looked up at her mother with a mischevious grin, "Joel Wood is going to get a big surprise when he next sees me."

Ginny returned the grin, "I'm sure he is. Bye, Lily."

"Bye, Mum. Thanks!"

Ginny turned at the door, "Thank your Aunt Hermione, not me."

And with that, Ginevra Molly Potter left her daughter's room, thinking of the wonderful life she had. A life that she may not be living, if it were not for the advice of Hermione Jean Weasley.


End file.
